At least nine persons were killed, and 15 others were critically injured, in two separate road accidents in combined Chittoor district in the early hours of Friday.
In the first incident, a family of seven from Odisha State was travelling in an ambulance following treatment at Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru. The ambulance rammed into a stationary lorry in the rear at Tellagundla Palli village of Tavanampalle mandal on Puthalapattu-Naidupeta NH, 15 km from here. The impact killed four persons on the spot, while two other family members, and the drivers of both the lorry and ambulance were critically injured.
The deceased were identified as Manjulatha, Trilochana, Umesh Chandra, and Vijay, all hailing from Kurdha Road in Odisha. The police from Yadamarri and Kanipakkam of the Chittoor west circle rushed to the spot and took up the rescue operation. The injured were shifted to the Government Hospital in Chittoor. A case has been registered.
In another incident, five pilgrims from Belagavi of Karnataka State were killed on the spot, and eleven others were injured when a mini-bus collided head-on with a lorry at Matam village of KV Palle mandal of Annamayya district on Friday morning.
According to the police, a batch of pilgrims from Belagavi were returning home from Tirumala when the mishap occurred. The pilgrim party had visited the Srisailam temple and were hoping to visit the Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala. As they could not obtain the darshan slot, they were returning to Belagavi when the tragedy struck them. The deceased included two women and three men. Eleven others, four of them critically injured, were rushed to the SVRR Hospital in Tirupati. A case was registered.
